USS Winston S. Churchill U.S. 5th Fleet AOR

Winston S. Churchill’s passage through the 120-mile long canal marks the end of a 234-day tour in U.S. 5th Fleet AOR, where she first served as part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (CSG) and later with the John C. Stennis CSG.

“Winston S. Churchill was an integral part of providing recognized air and maritime picture to Combined Task Force 50 as well as U.S. Naval Forces Central Command,” said Lt. Michael Buckley, USS Winston S. Churchill operations officer. “Winston S. Churchill’s work with multiple gulf coast nations added to maritime stability in the area.”

Churchill participated in the first bilateral counter-piracy exercise between the U.S. Navy and Chinese People’s Liberation Army (Navy) with frigate Yi Yang (FF 548), Sept. 17. The focus was on interoperability in detecting, boarding and searching suspected vessels as well as the ability of both Chinese and American naval assets to respond to pirated vessels.

During the combined merchant and naval exercise, Lucky Mariner 2013, Winston S. Churchill escorted commercial Dec. 11, as part of the biannual exercise, led by Naval Coordination and Guidance for Shipping, that teamed regional naval forces with industry representatives to integrate civilian-military responses to violent extremist threats to theater shipping.

“Winston S. Churchill set the standard for excellence in 5th Fleet operations,” said Cmdr. Chris Stone, USS Winston S. Churchill commanding officer. “Winston S. Churchill performed every undertaking with pride and professionalism. I am incredibly proud to serve alongside such exceptional Ambassadors of the United States, the U.S. Navy and this ship.”

Winston S. Churchill is currently deployed to the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility.